Pew report says Air Force is going green - Military News | News From Afghanistan, Iraq And Around The World - Military Times

Pew report says Air Force is going green

The Air Force has cut its energy consumption by 20 percent in the past six years, but it still has work to do, according to a new report from the Pew Charitable Trusts.

“The military’s reliance on fossil fuels compromises combat effectiveness by restricting mobility, flexibility and endurance on the battlefield,” the report said.

As the military’s biggest energy consumer, the Air Force is leading Defense Department efforts to rely more on “clean” energy and to spend less on conventional energy sources. Thirty-seven Air Force bases now draw at least part of their power from renewable energy sources, according to the report.

From solar power plants to tests on biofuels for jets, green initiatives are sprouting up across the Air Force.

Some examples:

— By December 2011, Luke Air Force Base, Ariz., expects to be home to a 17-megawatt solar farm covering 116 acres. The Soaring Heights community at Davis-Monthan Air Force Base, Ariz., now under construction, will rely on solar power for 75 percent of its residential needs. The two bases will join Nellis Air Force Base, Nev., in housing solar farms. The solar farm at Nellis has a 30-megawatt solar power plant, capable of producing about 25 percent of the base’s electricity.

— Wind turbines operate on four bases, and they could start appearing at seven more installations by 2015. A project proposed for Vandenberg Air Force Base, Calif., calls for erecting 24 turbines.

— A power plant being built at Hurlburt Field, Fla., will burn household garbage at high temperatures, which will produce a synthetic version of natural gas. The gas will be recycled into the plant to produce hot water and electricity.

— On March 25, an A-10 fighter became the first Air Force plane to use fuel refined from plants. For the test flight, the A-10 at Eglin Air Force Base, Fla., flew with a 50/50 mix of the typical jet fuel, JP-8, and fuel refined from the camelina, a common weed.

— Edwards Air Force Base, Calif., uses several programs to reduce energy costs and water use. A computer that manages power use throughout 25 percent of Edwards’ building saved the base $625,000 in 2009, compared with 2008. The base cut water use by 25 percent in 2009 by landscaping with desert plants and gravel instead of grass.